Water gun remotely mounted on planer cutter guide



Feb. 28, 1967 A. 1.65555; 3,306,665

WATER GUN REMOTELY MOUNTED ON PLANER CUTTER-GUIDE Filed May 18, 1964INVENTOR fiXM/A/ 1&555

United States Patent 3,306,665 WATER GUN REMOTELY MOUNTED ON PLANERCUTTER GUIDE Armin Liibhe, Oberaden, near Kamen, Germany, assignor toGewerkschaft Eisenhntte Westfalia, Westphalia, Germany, a corporation ofGermany Filed May 18, 1964, Ser. No. 367,999 Claims priority,application Germany, May 24, 1963, G 37,815 6 Claims. (Cl. 299-34) Thepresent invention relates to the use of a Water gun for the extractionof mineral from a mine face, and more particularly to a method ofoperation and mining arrangement for the extraction of mineral from theupper portion as 'well as the lower portion of a mine face, utilizing inaddition to a mining planer, normally conducted back and forth along thelower portion of the mine face on longitudinally extending guide means,also more than one water gun spaced apart on the guide means fordirecting again-st the upper portion of the mine face high pressurewater jets in slightly overlapping range to loosen the mineralsufliciently to cause the same to fall away from the upper mine faceportion.

In accordance with the prior art techniques, mining planers for theextraction of coal or other minerals and angers and the like attack agiven portion of the mineral seam being worked, depending upon thepositioning of the cutting means thereon. Especially with respect tocoal planers, the same attack with their cutting tools only a portion ofthe height of the seam. Depending upon the thicknes of the seam, a moreor less large portion of the coal or other mineral in the seam mustloosen and fall by its own weight. In the case of hard coal seams, andespecially those hard coal seams containing baked-on coal, i.e. hardspots in the coal face of a dense consistency which will notnormallyloosen and break apart by their own weight, however, an overhangremains above the lower portion of the seam previously extracted withthe mining plane-r, and such overhang or upper seam portion is usuallyextracted or won manually. Various proposals have been set forthpreviously in an attempt to extract the upper portion of the mine face,particularly where baked-On hard spots are present, by providing acombination of apparatus including a coal planer to extract the lowerseam portion of the mine face in the normal manner and a coal auger orsimilar tool to extract or cut away the higher coal, i.e. the upper seamportion in the coal face. Especially designed coal planers have alsobeen introduced in practice, in which cutting tools or chisels areprovided which extend toward the coal face in such a manner that themineral may be extracted from the seam all the way to the mine roof. Theuse of auxiliary equipment and supplementary techniques to achieve theextraction of the upper portion of the mine face being worked isencountered more often Where the mine face represents a mineral seam orcoal seam of an extra great height, i.e. a height which is too extensiveto be efficiently worked by a normal mining planer under the conditionswhich must be expected in a mine.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the drawbacks ofprevious arrangements and techniques for the winning or recovery of theupper portion of the mine seam being Worked,'and to provide a method ofoperation and arrangement of mining equipment sufficiently effective toachieve the extraction of mineral such as coal throughout the height ofthe mine seam, even where baked-on hard spots in the coal face of denseconsistency are present.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method inwhich the lower portion of the mine face is extractively engaged by amining planer to provide an overhang of the upper portion of the mineface which is deprived of its undersupport, and thereafter to directagainst such overhang, at spaced apart intervals therealong, highpressure water jets in slightly overlapping range to loosen the mineralsufficient to cause the same to fall away from the upper mine faceportion.

It is another object of the present invention to provide in conjunctionwith a mining planer normally conducted along a mining conveyor in thelong wall mining ofrnaterial, a plurality of high pressure water gunsartieulatedly mounted on the mining conveyor at the side thereof remotefrom the mine face, with such water guns being arranged for limitedpivoting about both a horizontal and a vertical axis to achieve thedirection of high pressure water jets against the upper portion of themine face to loosen the mineral in the desired manner.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a supplyconduit or water pipe for the water guns in a convenient manner andwithout the requirement for additional constructional arrangements whichwould unduly occupy available space at the site of mining operations.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide for theextraction of mineral from a mine face throughout its entire height,especially where baked-on hard spots of dense consistency in the coalface are encountered, in a simpler manner than was possible heretofore,and without the significant expenditures necessitated by the provisionfor a combination mining planer and anger apparatus.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide byhydraulic means the automatic completion of the extraction of mineralfrom the upper portion of the mine face after the lower portion thereofhas been extracted by a mining planer in the normal way, with highpressure water jets being directed against such mine face upper portionin overlapping range, whereby a continuous loosening and removal of coalor other mineral will take place throughout the longitudinal extent ofthe upper portion overhang.

Other and further objects of the present invention will become apparentfrom the study of the within specification and accompanying drawings.

It has been found, in accordance with the present invention, that miningequipment for the extraction of mineral from the upper portion of a mineface may be provided in conjunction with a mining planer which isconducted 'back and forth along the lower portion of such mine face onlongitudinally extending guide means adjacent the mine face being workedfor the extraction of mineral from such lower portion of the mine face.The mining equipment comprises at least two longitudinally spaced aparthigh pressure water guns articulatedly mounted on such guide means forlimited pivoting about both a horizontal axis and a vertical axis todirect high water jets against the upper portion of the mine face toloosen the mineral sufficiently to cause such' loosened mineral to fallaway from such upper mine face portion. The water guns are spaced aparton the guide means a linear distance permitting at least slight overlapin the range of water jets of correspondingly adjacent water guns.

Preferably, the guide means in accordance with one embodiment of thepresent invention takes the form of a mining conveyor, such as a doublechain scraper conveyor of the conventional type, and the water guns aremounted on the longitudinal side of the mining conveyor remote from themine face, the mining planer on the other hand being mounted formovement on the conveyor on the side thereof adjacent the mine face.Advantageously, a substantially horizontally extending water pipe isattached to the conveyor on the side thereof remote from the mine facein order to supply water under high pressure for the water guns. Inparticular, each water gun has a collar at one end outwardly enclosingthe water pipe and rotatable about the axis of such pipe, and a nozzleat the other end pivotable about a vertical axis, such collar flowcommunicating the Water pipe with the gun and in turn said gunflow-communicating said collar with the nozzle. The nozzle is preferablypivotable about said vertical axis through a limited angle of pivot,while the gun including such nozzle is pivotable horizontally about thepipe axis through a limited angle of pivot, such that the extent of thelimited pivoting is sufiicient for the water jets to be played upon atleast the upper portion of the mine face, and to a lateral degree atleast slightly more than half the distance of the mine face portionextending between adjacent water guns.

' In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal end view of a mining arrangement inaccordance with the present invention partly in section, and

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the mining arrangement of FIG. 1,illustrating the positional relationship between the water guns on theone hand and the mining planer on the other hand, as well as the lateralrange of the water jets of the water guns of the present invention.

Referring to the drawing, FIG. 1 shows a mining conveyor 1 having acentral plate 2, a side wall 3 adjacent the mine face, and a side wall 4remote from the mine face, the central plate 2 being connected to theside walls 3, 4 intermediate their height such that the same is spacedfrom the mine floor 5. The conveyor 1 may be of the double chain scraperconveyor type as is disclosed fully in US. Patent 2,745,651. On the mineface side of the conveyor a ramp 6 is positioned which is fixedlyattached to the side wall 3 so that the bottom portion of ramp 6 willrest upon mine floor 5. Ramp 6 is provided with a lower groove 7longitudinally therealong and an upper crest 8 attached to the upperportion of side wall 3 whereby to provide an upper groove 9. A miningplaner 11) of the conventional type having a lower extension 11 and anupper extension 12 is positioned on ramp 6 with lower extension 11slidably received in lower groove 7 and with upper extension 12 slidablyreceived in upper groove 9. Accordingly, a traction cable means such asa chain 13 may be attached at its ends to the upper extension 12 suchthat an endless chain arrangement is provided with the forward chainportion 13 riding along the upper groove 9 and with the return chainportion 14 riding along the return groove 15 located in the hollowcentral section of the ramp 6. The drive chain is looped at thelr1gitudinal ends of the mine face over appropriate drive wheels such assprocket wheels so that the planer 10 may be conducted in the desiredlongitudinal manner back and forth along the mine face with the cuttingtools 16 thereof in extractive engagement with the lower portion 17 ofthe mine face. Such drive means for the traction cable or chain areindeed well known and a particular drive chain arrangement, includingsprocket wheel assemblies is shown in US. Patent 2,691,514.

Nevertheless, the upper portion 18 of the mine face being worked is notreached by the highest projections of the cutting tools 16 and anoverhang of the upper portion of the mine seam between the mine floorand the mine roof 19 remains. Such upper portion will often containbakedon hard spots of dense consistency in the coal face or mine faceand these portions of the overhanging coal or other mineral will notbreak up and fall of their own weight. Accordingly, another manner ofextracting this portion of the mine seam must be utilized. Systemsheretofore employed included the use of a roof cutting tool mounted on amining planer similar to the type shown in FIG. 1, or on a base meansmovable back and forth along the ramp 6, or on the top inwardly directedflange portions of the conveyor side walls 3, 4. In accordance with thepresent invention on the other hand, an entirely 4 different manner ofextracting the overhanging roof coal or root mineral making up the upperportion of the mine face 18, which involves the use of water guns isprovided, as aforesaid.

In this connection, as the planer 111 exposes a new part of lowerportion 17 of the mine face, the entire arrange ment of the conveyorincluding the ramp guide means and the planer must be urged transverselytoward the newly exposed mine face part in order to maintain the cuttingtools 16 in extractable operative engagement with such mine face. Toaccomplish this end, an urging means is employed which includes thebracing pit prop 20 (partially shown in FIG. 1) which is adapted toextend between the mine floor S and the mine roof 19 to brace thecylinder 21 and the piston 22 operating therewith against rearwarddisplacement in a direction away from the mine face 17. The free end ofthe piston 22 in the form of a rod is pivotally linked by pin 32 to alug 33 attached to the side wall 4, i.e. remote from the mine face.Accordingly, as the piston rod 22 extends outwardly from cylinder 21,the conveyor 1 including the ramp 6 is urged toward the mine face in thedesired manner. This may be seen more clearly in FIG. 2 wherein spacedapart bracing props and urging piston cylinder means are situated so asto effect the transverse movement of the arrangement toward the mineface in increments along the longitudinal extent of the apparatus.

With particular regard to the improved features of the presentinvention, a water gun 23 having a nozzle 24 is provided which ismounted via a collar 27 on a water pipe 26 which supplies water underhigh pressure to water gun 23. The collar 27 encloses completely aportion of the pipe 26 in a manner permitting limited rotationalmovement of collar 27 with respect to pipe 26. Accordingly the operatormay grasp the handle 25 of nozzle 24 and swivel the water gun 23 aboutthe axis of pipe 26 to cause the water jet 24 issuing from nozzle 24 tohave a range in vertical direction determined by the angle between thedot-dash lines representing the limits of the water jet where the nozzleis in the positions 24a and 24b, respectively, as shown partially (inphantom) in FIG. 1. Such vertical range will permit the water gun towork against the entire area of the overhanging upper portion of themine face, whereby to cause by the extreme hydraulic pressures utilized,a loosening of the top coal or roof coal or other mineral, such thatparts will break off and fall eventually into conveyor 1, if notimmediately then upon the next passage longitudinally of mine planer 10along the mine face. As the artisan will appreciate, the longitudinalmovement of a mining planer of the instant type along a mine face willcause the plowing of loosened mineral to be carried out to the extentthat such loosened material will be forced rearwardly into theadjacently situated mining conveyor.

In addition to a vertical range of movement'of water gun 23, by reasonof the swivel flange connection 31 between the nozzle 24 and the mainportion of the water gun 23, limited articulation in a horizontal planemay be carried out as well. For this purpose, the operator will merelygrasp the handle 25 and move the same in a horizontal direction ratherthan in a vertical direction. Of course, the water gun may be operatedso that the nozzle 24 may be articulated in both horizontal and verticaldirections at will with the horizontal movement being carried out byrotation about the axis of swivel connection 31 and with the verticalmovement being carried out by rotation about the axis of pipe 26. thewater supply to the gun 23 may be controlled by the valve handle 28. Itwill be realized that water pipe 26 is suitably connected by means ofbrackets 29 spaced along the conveyor 1, such that the presence of thewater pipe and indeed the spaced apart water guns as may be appreciatedin FIG. 2, does not take up any significantly additional space at thesite of mining operations. Thus the workmen will not suffer any decreasein the usable space at the mine site which might hamper theiractivities. Naturally, it is preferable to mount the water pipe 26, andin turn the spaced apart water guns 23 situated thereon, at a heightsuflicient for permitting the nozzle 24 to play a water jet 24 upon theoverhanging upper mine face portion in the most direct manner possible.For this purpose, the brackets 29, carrying the water pipe 26 aremounted at a level above the upper end of the side wall 4 on conveyor 1by reason of the rebound or bounce plate 30 situated thereat. Because ofthe presence of bounce plate 30, the lug 33 to which the urging pistoncylinder arrangement 22, 21 is pivotally connected, is attached to sidewall 4 therethrough.

It will be seen in FIG. 1 that the water in pipe 26 may also be used, ifdesired, to energize the piston cylinder arrangement 22, 21 by the flowline 34, controlled by the valve control 35. Under the pressure in pipe26, water may be passed suitably through a conduit in the interior ofthe piston rod 22 to each side of the cylinder separated by the pistontherewithin. A double acting piston is suitably employed such thatpressure fiuid such as water introduced on one side of the piston withinthe cylinder will cause displacement of the piston in one direction, andpressure fluid introduced into the cylinder portion on the other side ofthe piston will cause displacement of the piston in the oppositedirection. Indeed, after the piston rod 22 has urged the conveyorarrangement in the desired direction toward the mine face, the cylinderis caused to move forward over the already advanced piston rod draggingalong therewith the bracing prop 20 which has meanwhile been releasedfrom supporting engagement with the mine floor and mine ceiling. Oncethe forward advancement has been completed, the bracing pit prop 20 isagain extended into engagement with the mine floor and mine ceiling,whereupon after the next part of the coal or other mineral has beenexposed by the operation of the mining planer, the piston rod 22 will bein the desired position to permit displacement thereof from cylinder 21to cause the next advancing step to be effected.

It may be seen in FIG. 2 that the water pipe 26 extends longitudinallyalong the conveyor at the side thereof remote from the mine face, i.e.remote from the side where the mining planer is conducted along ramp 6.No significant loss of space to the workmen will be entailed by thepresence of pipe 26 or the spaced apart water guns 23 mounted thereon,and by the spacing of the water guns at a predetermined distance apartand by the utilization of appropriate angles of pivot in horizontaldirection the range of the water jet 24 may overlap with thecorresponding range of the next adjacent water gun. This will beappreciated from the dot-dash lines indicating the maximum range ofpivot in horizontal direction of the nozzle 24 shown schematically inphantom in the positions 240 and 24d. This arrangement permits extremelateral angles of attack of the water jet with respect to the mine faceto be enjoyed. When considering the vertical sweep of the water jetbetween the nozzle positions 24 a and 24b together with the horizontalsweep of the water jet between the positions 240 and 24d of the nozzle,it will become clear that a versatile water gun arrangement is providedwhich will effectively loosen and cause the removal of coal or othermineral from the entire area of the particular mine face portionadjacent the particular water gun, with marginal areas of the mine facefarthest from a particular water gun being within the range of bothadjacent water guns on either side thereof. While the force of the waterjet played upon the marginal mine face areas may be less than thatexerted on the mine face portion directly before the water gun, suchmarginal areas are served, in fact, by two water guns and thus two waterjets, which together will accomplish the same result as is achieved by asingle water gun jet played upon the mine face portion before it.Naturally, the positioning of the water guns a certain distance from themine face being worked will permit an optimum closeness of the water jetto the mine face area being attacked thereby, yet the distance betweenthe mine face overhang and the water gun nozzle will be such that asufficient lateral scope may be encompassed by each water gun to renderthe employment of a plurality of spaced apart water guns efficient andeconomical to operate. Since the urging means 22, 21 will maintain theconveyor at approximately the same distance from the mine face at alltimes, the water guns of the invention will be similarly maintained in aconstant yet desirably spacial relationship with respect to the mineface being worked.

Thus, in accordance with the present invention, .the upper portion ofthe mine seam may be expediently loosened and removed without costlyexpenditures which would be necessitated by the employment of acombination mining planer and auger and/or other mechanical upper orroof coal mining means. If desired, the water guns may be arranged forautomatic operation or for operation in unison, as for example whereother adjacent water guns are articulated in the same direction at thesame time and thereafter moved slowly in .the opposite direction toprovide a full sweep of adjacent high pressure Water jets against theoverhanging coal. Since the water jets overlap somewhat in their range,there will be no residual roof coal remaining after the desired Waterjet extraction technique has been utilized. An uninterrupted, continuousextraction height of the mine seam is, therefore, possible in accordancewith the present arrangement and method, and after each pass of themining planer in the normal way, the water jets may be employed tomaintain eflicient advancement of the conveyor system toward the newlyexposed mine face with a more or less even extraction of material fromthe lower and the upper mine face portions. Since the water guns arelocated on the guide means arrangement for the mine planer, the samewill always be located at the correct distance from the mine face andwill automatically always be advanced as the mining equipment itself isadvanced. Little regard may be had for thick and tough seams of coal,for example, as the high pressure water jets contemplated will besuflicient to disintegrate the upper coal face portion even though lumpsof coal or other mineral which may fall may themselves be hard andtough. Such hard and tough lumps may be crushed to the desired size bymanual or mechanical means Well known in the art. The hydraulic power ofthe water jets in practice will effectively disturb the integrity ofoverhanging roof coal robbed of its undersupport, thus making thepresent invention particularly versatile and applicable universally inmining operations at a minimum of expenditure for capital and foroperating purposes.

It will be appreciated that the specification and drawing have been setforth for the purpose of illustration and not limitation, and thatvarious modifications may be made in accordance with the presentinvention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, thepresent invention being limited only by the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. Mining equipment for the extraction of mineral from the upper portionof a mine face, in conjunction with a mining planer which is conductedback and forth along the lower portion of such mine face onlogitudinally extending guide means adjacent the mine face being workedfor the extraction of mineral from such lower portion of the mine face,which comprises at least two longitudinally spaced apart high pressurewater guns articulatedly mounted on such guide means and being spacedremotely from such mining planer, for limited pivoting about both ahorizontal axis and a vertical axis to direct high pressure Water jetsagainst the upper portion of the mineface to loosen the mineralsufficiently to cause such loosened mineral to fall away from such uppermine face portion, said water guns being spaced apart on such guidemeans a linear distance in'the longitudinal direction of said guidemeans permitting at least slight overlap in the range of the water jetsof correspondingly adjacent water guns.

2. Mining equipment according to claim 1, wherein such guide means is amining conveyor and said Water guns are mounted on the longitudinal sidethereof remote from the mine face, and such planer is mounted formovement on said conveyor on the side thereof adjacent the mine face.

3. Mining equipment according to claim 2, wherein a substantiallyhorizontally extending water pipe is attached to said conveyor on theside thereof remote from the mine face to supply water under highpressure for said water guns, each said water gun having a collar at oneend outwardly enclosing said pipe and rotatable about the axis of saidpipe, and a nozzle at the other end pivotable about a vertical axis,said collar flow communicating said pipe with said gun and in turn saidnozzle.

4. Mining equipment according to claim 3, wherein said nozzle ispivotable about said vertical axis through a limited angle of pivot, andsaid gun including said nozzle is pivotable horizontally about the axisof said pipe through a limited angle of pivot, the extent of suchlimited pivoting being sufiicient for the water jets to be played uponat least the upper portion of the mine face and to a lateral degree atleast slightly more than half the distance of the mine face portionextending between adjacent water guns.

5. In a mining arrangement for the extraction of mineral from alongitudinally extending mine face, including a longitudinally extendingmining conveyor positioned with one side thereof adjacent the mine facebeing worked and a mining planer mounted on the mine face side of saidconveyor for back and forth movement therealong for the extraction ofmineral from the lower portion of the mine face, the improvement for theextraction of mineral from the upper portion of such mine face inconjunction with the extraction of the mine face lower portion by suchmining planer which comprises a plurality of longitudinally spaced aparthigh pressure water guns articulatedly mounted on the side of suchmining conveyor remote from the mine face for limited pivoting aboutboth a horizontal axis and a vertical axis to direct high pressure waterjets against the upper portion of the mine face to loosen the mineralsufficiently to cause such loosened mineral to fall away from such uppermine face portion, said water guns being spaced apart on said conveyor alinear distance permitting slight overlap in the range of the water jetsof correspondingly adjacent water guns and being spaced remotely fromsaid mining planer and operable independently thereof.

6. Mining arrangement for the extraction of mineral from the upper andlower portions of a longitudinally extending mine face, which comprisesa longitudinally extending mining conveyor positioned with one sidethereof adjacent the mine face being worked and a mining planer mountedon the mine face side of said conveyor for back and forth movementtherealong for the extraction of mineral from the lower portion of themine face, a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart high pressurewater guns articulatedly mounted on the side of said mining conveyorremote from the mine face for limited pivoting about both a horizontalaxis and a vertical axis to direct high pressure water jets against theupper portion of the mine face to loosen the mineral sufiiciently tocause such loosened mineral to fall away from such upper mine faceportion, said water guns being spaced apart on said conveyor a lineardistance permitting slight overlap in the range of the water jets ofcorrespondingly adjacent Water guns and being spaced remotely from saidmining planer and operable independently thereof, and a water pipeextending substantially horizontally along said mining conveyor 0n theside thereof remote from the mine face to supply water under highpressure for said water guns.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 878,208 2/1908Kirschniok 299-47 3,203,736 8/1965 Anderson 299-47 FOREIGN PATENTS672,336 5/1952 Great Britain.

OTHER REFERENCES Mining Congress Journal, January 1961, pp. 5254 inc.

ERNEST R. PURSER, Primary Examiner.

1. MINING EQUIPMENT FOR THE EXTRACTION OF MINERAL FROM THE UPPER PORTIONOF A MINE FACE, IN CONJUNCTION WITH A MINING PLANER WHICH IS CONDUCTEDBACK AND FORTH ALONG THE LOWER PORTION OF SUCH MINE FACE ONLONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING GUIDE MEANS ADJACENT THE MINE FACE BEING WORKEDFOR THE EXTRACTION OF MINERAL FROM SUCH LOWER PORTION OF THE MINE FACE,WHICH COMPRISES AT LEAST TWO LONGITUDINALLY SPACED APART HIGH PRESSUREWATER GUNS ARTICULATEDLY MOUNTED ON SUCH GUIDE MEANS AND BEING SPACEDREMOTELY FROM SUCH MINING PLANER, FOR LIMITED PIVOTING ABOUT BOTH AHORIZONTAL AXIS AND A VERTICAL AXIS TO DIRECT HIGH PRESSURE WATER JETSAGAINST THE UPPER PORTION OF THE MINE FACE TO LOOSEN THE MINERALSUFFICIENTLY TO CAUSE SUCH LOOSENED MINERAL TO FALL AWAY FROM SUCH UPPERMINE FACE PORTION, SAID WATER GUNS BEING SPACED APART ON SUCH GUIDEMEANS A LINEAR DISTANCE IN THE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION OF SAID GUIDEMEANS PERMITTING AT LEAST SLIGHT OVERLAP IN THE RANGE OF THE WATER JETSOF CORRESPONDINGLY ADJACENT WATER GUNS.